Javier Mascherano expects his permanent transfer to Liverpool to be completed this week.

The Argentina midfielder is registered as a Reds player on a long-term loan
from owners MSI, so the deal did not need to be completed before the transfer
deadline last Thursday.

However, the 23-year-old, who claims his relationship with the Anfield fans
has been a major factor in his decision to stay on Merseyside, hopes the
£18.6million transfer to go through shortly.

'It's not finished yet but I am hoping to stay here,' he told the Liverpool website.

'I have a lot of confidence that after the next week I will be able to say
`everything is right and I am staying here in Liverpool'.

'We now need to wait. We are very close but we need to talk again. I think
everything will be okay. I've waited a long time, so I can wait one week more.

'The fans like me and I love the fans. They are great and that's the reason I
want to stay here.'

Liverpool are believed to have verbally agreed a four-year contract with
Mascherano, with the fee being paid to the player's owners in instalments.

Mascherano played his 26th game for the club in Saturday's 3-0 win over
Sunderland, and said: 'When it was 0-0 at half-time there were no harsh words
like the boss delivered last week when we were playing Havant.

'We knew we would have chances in the second half, so we weren't feeling so
bad at half-time. We knew we could do something to win the game. It was just
important we kept calm.

'At half-time we were told to keep going and work hard. We weren't playing
really well, but it wasn't so bad either. We had to keep working together.

'The difference was that we scored early in the second half and you could see
that gave us a lot of confidence. Once you've scored, you become calmer.'

Mascherano admits he and his team-mates owed that second-half performance to
the fans following five league games without a win.

He also believes it will have a big impact on the squad's state of mind going
into next Sunday's trip to Chelsea.

'We owed the fans a result. We've played badly recently but now we can have
confidence again. We can go into the international break happy and then we have
a big game against Chelsea.

'It's a difficult place to go, so the win over Sunderland was important
because it means we can go to London with a lot of confidence. We can play with
confidence again.

'We are close to fourth spot again - just one point behind. But now we have
to keep this level.'